Let’s talk about legendary vintage speakers

[Analogous]

I have been enjoying listening to my music on a pair of AR2. They were made in 1962.
While they may not have the extreme performance of “Audiophile” speakers I find them very enjoyable, musical and great for long non fatiguing listening sessions.

Do you know if other vintage speakers that do this?

 

[reignofchaos]

Altecs, Tannoys, JBLs are the usual suspects.

Kloss left AR and founded KLH - so those might have a similar signature.

 

[chander]

We could name many, but if it is about what I have personally owned - the list is perhaps 1 or maybe 2.

One of my personal favourite from the late 80s - Acoustic Energy AE1. I bought them used from a gentleman in Gurgaon in the early 2000s - I had them paired with a preamp+poweramp+subwoofer combo that I can't remember, but they were incredible for their size.

I believe they are pretty much the reason I still love the sound of Subwoofer + BS combo.

 

[rwnano]

Irving M bud fried speakers (separate from). IMF speakers. TDL speakers. All having transmission lines.
Vandersteens.
Old tannoys.

 

[Analogous]

Specific model name/numbers and a brief description of what makes them special (even if it’s the memory of) would be nice

 

[rwnano]

Fried R3, Q, Beta, signature A-3,4,5,6. What made them special is the transmission line base and serial crossovers which gave them a different flavour to regular speakers.

 

[prem]

12 Best Vintage Hi-Fi Speakers of All Time - The Absolute Sound

The senior editorial staff of TAS assembled a list of the "12 Most Significant Speakers Of All Time." Here are our picks.

www.theabsolutesound.com

Analogous, you may find above interesting.

IMO, if there’s one speaker that deserves a legendary status, it would be the Quad 57.

No speaker, vintage or modern, irrespective of price, can match the midrange of Quad 57.

 

[prem]

This Stereophile list too has some interesting vintage speakers

https://www.stereophile.com/content/40-years-istereophilei-hot-100-products-page-7

 

[muralimmreddy]

Owned Falcon acoustics gold badge a faithful reproduction of original BBC design published in October 1976. Arguably best of Ls3/5a in production. Superb for intimate near field listening.

Currently own 60+ year old design, but in production Klipsch la scala's. Like the scale, life-like presentation and euphonic mid-range.

 

[Analogous]

12 Best Vintage Hi-Fi Speakers of All Time - The Absolute Sound

The senior editorial staff of TAS assembled a list of the "12 Most Significant Speakers Of All Time." Here are our picks.

www.theabsolutesound.com

Analogous, you may find above interesting.

IMO, if there’s one speaker that deserves a legendary status, it would be the Quad 57.

No speaker, vintage or modern, irrespective of price, can match the midrange of Quad 57.

Thanks Prem. Hopefully someday I will find a Quad 57 owner who will allow me to experience this legendary midrange.
Any FM ?

 

[heliumflight]

I've owned almost 20 speakers and nothing beats B&W DM4 and its super tweeter is phenomenal.

 

[arj]

Do many many to think of but availability, space and price arw the issues

Klangfilm range of speakers of which europa or europa jr would be something i would love to get my hands on (cost being the object)
Excluding the klipsch/jbl/tannoy ranges as there are too many
Vitavox CN192 corner horn is based on the klipsch horn but superior drivers is another absolute classic
The Technics sb10000 ,
Onkyo grand scepter
And the more modern Jadis Eurythmie
Not to mention pioneer exclusive 2401/2402

Many of these are original ground up thinking although the Altec Lansings of the old have spawned so many other models across the world through their authentic design

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Do many many to think of but availability, space and price arw the issues

Klangfilm range of speakers of which europa or europa jr would be something i would love to get my hands on (cost being the object)
Excluding the klipsch/jbl/tannoy ranges as there are too many
Vitavox CN192 corner horn is bases on the klipsch horn but superior drivers is another absolute classic
The technics sb10000 , only grand scepter
And the more modern Jadis Eurythmie
Not to mention pioneer exclusive 2401/2402

Many of these are original ground up thinking although thr Altec Lansings of the old have spawned so many other models across the world through their authentic desugn

1947 Western Electric 757-A. Some years back I visited the Munich hi end audio show and these were on demo there. I was shocked to hear something that old sounding so huge and realistic. Probably that had something to do with the demo vinyl they played. At the sweet spot I felt like sitting infront of a real choir in a hall/church. May be I had very low expectations about them when I saw them. If I have he space and money at some point, that’s something I would hunt.

 

[ronniemarker]

Irving M bud fried speakers (separate from). IMF speakers. TDL speakers. All having transmission lines.
Vandersteens.
Old tannoys.

Nice to know that someone chimed in and spoke about transmission line loudspeakers and their fabled bass response - I should know - having owned two pairs of the venerable IMF RSPM MK IVs (at different times) and two pairs as well (concurrently) of the mighty and unassailable TDL Electronics Reference Standard Transmission Line System (semi-hexagonal tops design) loudspeakers - the bass was heavenly and was to be felt - I stayed with the transmission line trail for well over 20 years and in the last 10 or so, have switched (some might even say regressed) to the horn-loaded large-ish (but NOT as big as the IMFs and TDLs, of course) vintage (1960s) Tannoy GRF speakers with the fabled 15" drivers in them - also very pleasant and musical but the bass is most definitely in the league of those mighty British TL-speakers. Drop me a note if you wish to reminisce or discuss further - best wishes !

 

[Analogous]

For a long time, before the widespread availability and use of electronic Audio related measurement tools speaker manufacturers designed and tuned speakers by the ear. I would guess this art reached its peak during the 60s and well into the 90s.
My AR2 circa 1964 still sounds great
And the Gradient Revolutions sound fabulous.
This is not to say anything vintage is fantastic, but every period had its standout products created by very talented designers.

 

[keroo1099]

Two speakers that I had me hooked from the moment I heard them were a pair of KEF 104/2 's I heard in the 80's, and Gale 401's that my cousin had in Mumbai 40 years ago.

I also loved the easy going seductive sound of the Vandersteen 2ce's which I got to hear quite a bit while in the US

 

[arunvenkats]

I do not know if these were legendary, but they were super special to me and my family. Back in the 80's and it worked into the mid 90's. My father had a pair of Solidaire 3 way speakers and a Solidaire amp. Don't even remember the model names. I grew up listening to music on them. They were connected to a Philips turntable and a Beltek cassette player. The woofers used to have a curved diaphragm not just a cone. Would love to own them again if I can find one.